Safetypin



Sept. 21,:1937. w, BOWKER 2,093,630

SAFETYPIN Filed March 10, 1936 i I N VE N TO R EnnErrWBo WKER H/s ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 21, 1937 UNITED STATES 3 Claims.

The invention relates to safety-pins which may be clasped easily and as readily unclasped by simply compressing the side members.

The main object of the invention is to provide a safety-pin that can be clasped and unclasped quickly yet retaining the material so clamped therein that it is perfectly secure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fastener that lays flat when in use, and one 0 which may be clasped and securely hold therein any material, yet be released by simply bringothers will appear as the description unfolds itself, reference is made to the following detail description, appended claims and the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application, and in which:-

Fig. 1 a plan of my invention showing the same in a clamped condition.

Fig. 2 is a like view but showing the fastener elongated so as to release the pin from the clasp.

Fig. 3 shows the fastener in an unclasped position.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the clasp member before being applied to the bent member of the fastener.

Fig. 5 is a cross section through the clasp on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 6 is a like sectional view taken through the clasp on the line 66 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrow, and

Fig. 7 is a sectional modification showing the clamping or retaining members curved.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 it will be seen that the safety-pin is composed of a single piece of suitable steel spring wire, the first short bend is housed within a metal clamp II. The clamp holds the end of the wire secure as the wire forms the rear l2, it is again bent as at l3 and is retained under the other end of the metal clamp ll, providing a smooth flat surface on the top, while the under side of said clamp is open and free for the wire to rest upon.

As the wire leaves the clamp II it spreads out how shaped as at l5, and it is again bent at the opposite end and held in proper position by means of a clasping member IS. The wire is PATE'l OFFICE SAFETYPIN Emmett W. Bowker, Inwood, Long Island, N. Y.

Application March 10, 1936, Serial No. 68,060

bent to form a base ll, then again bent so as to or more twists l9 around the end and the free end of the wire is then sharpened as at 20, as is usual with safety-pins so as to permit them to be readily used. V

The clamping member I6 is composed of one piece of metal, having short ears 2| and 22 which grasp each one of the side wires at the base of the respective bows. The extending end tongue 23 grasps the end I1 and holds the clasping member always in its proper position. The two spring leaves 24 and 25 normally incline downwardly and have their edges meeting at the center thereof, as is shown at 26 which forms a. secure lock for the pin 20. Once the pin is pressed beneath the leaves 24 and 25 it is impossible for the same to escape or come out, and can only be released by exerting. pressure as is shown by the arrows in Figs. 1 and 2, numbered respectively 21 and 28. The reverse side of the clasp is flat as is the clasp l I, each forming a flat face which may or may not be etched so as to form an artistic as well as a useful safety-pin.

In Fig. 7 is shown a slightly modified form of clamping member l6 having like parts indicated by prime designation, the difference being that the leaves in this form are curved so as to more easily press the pin bar through the meeting edges of the members 24 and 25'. Thus it will be seen that it is impossible for the pin to escape from the clasping member I6.

In the operation of my safety-pin the user inserts the pointed end of the pin 20 into the material to be made secure and then the pointed end of the bar is forced down between the leaves 24 and 25. Once the leaves snap over the pin 20 it will be impossible, as before noted, for the pin to escape from the clasping member I6, until the user exerts pressure on each side of the two bows l5 and 18, by which action the safety-pin is elongated and when sufficiently compressed the pin will fly upwardly. Thus it will be seen that herein is a safety-pin that is easily locked, securely and adapted to be released just as easily, yet while the pin 20 is fastened in a locked position, affords a reliable safety-pin.

Applicant is aware that safety-pins have been designed with one piece of wire, also others where they have had angular sides with coils therein, all of which forms do not meet the demand for a pin that lies flat and forms no projections whatsoever. But the construction and arrangement that applicant has shown and described takes up a minimum of space and contains that quantity of maximum of permanence in its locking means.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, applicant has shown and described the principal form of his invention, which he now considers to present the best embodiment thereof, and which is fully shown and described.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A safety pin consisting essentially of a pair of outwardly bowed legs and a bar extending therebetween, retaining means for said legs at the end thereof, and retaining means for said bar, said retaining means comprising downwardly inclined yieldable parts whereby pressure on said parts permits entry of said bar thereinto while preventing retrograde movement of said bar, said bar being releasable from said lastnamed retaining means only by increasing the effective length of said pin by deforming said legs by applying straightening pressure thereto.

2. A safety pin comprising, a plurality of legs, a bar, said legs and bar being formed of a single piece of wire, tensioning means for said bar also formed from said piece of wire, and a clamp at the opposite end of said legs, said clamp including a pair of abutting downwardly inclined resilient leaves positioned to receive the bar of the pin between their contiguous edges upon the application of pressure, whereby said leaves are spread apart and said bar is admitted therebehind; whereupon, the leaves spring back into normal bar-retaining position, said bar being releasable from said clamp only by increasing the effective length of said legs, said bar being of constant length.

3. A safety pin comprising a bar, a plurality of bowed legs, a tensioning spring, said bar, legs, and spring being formed from a single piece of wire, retaining means for said legs at each end of said pin, said tensioning spring being formed of convolutions of said wire at one end of said pin, a bar-receiving clamp carried by said bowed legs at the end of said pin opposite said spring, said clamp comprising a pair of abutting resilient leaves, said legs being bowed sufficiently to render the distance between the ends of the pin, when said legs have been straightened, greater than the length of said bar, whereby straightening of said legs carries said clamp beyond the bar to release the same, closing of said pin being effected by pressing said bar between said resilient leaves in the absence of pressure on said legs.

EMMETT W. BOVVKER. 

